Screen21 November 2006

Crash turned the tables on popular wisdom when it was named best picture at the 78th annual Academy Awards last night as it took three Oscars, while the pre-ceremony favourite Brokeback Mountain also took home three awards including best director for Ang Lee.Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon won the lead actor and actress prizes for Capote and Walk The Line respectively, while George Clooney and Rachel Weisz won their suppo

Nominations for the European Film Awards were announced on November 4, with Pedro Almodovar's Volver leading the field, appearing in six of the seven major categories. The Wind That Shakes The Barley , which surprised many by taking beating the much-fancied Volver for the Palm d'Or, has five nominations, including one for leading actor Cillian Murphy, who receives his Best Actor nod for his performance in Loach's film and Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15 documentaries that will advance to the voting process for the 79th Academy Awards.The documentary branch screening committee viewed all 81 films that originally qualified in the category, and will now narrow the list down to the final five nominations. Nominations will be announced on Jan 23, 2007.The 15 films are: Blindsight, Can Mr Smith Get To Washington Anymore', Deliver Us From Evil, The Ground Truth, An Inconvenient Truth

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15 documentaries that will advance to the voting process for the 79th Academy Awards.The documentary branch screening committee viewed all 81 films that originally qualified in the category, and will now narrow the list down to the final five nominations. Nominations will be announced on Jan 23, 2007.The 15 films are: Blindsight, Can Mr Smith Get To Washington Anymore', Deliver Us From Evil, The Ground Tru

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15 documentaries that will advance to the voting process for the 79th Academy Awards.The documentary branch screening committee viewed all 81 films that originally qualified in the category, and will now narrow the list down to the final five nominations. Nominations will be announced on Jan 23, 2007.The 15 films are: Blindsight, Can Mr Smith Get To Washington Anymore', Deliver Us From Evil, The Ground Truth, An Inconvenient Truth

The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) has announced a list of 16 films which are expected to compete for the animated feature Oscar this year. Since the category allows five nominations if there are 16 eligible films or more, 2006 could be the first year since 2002 to have a five-film face-off.The announcement included a proviso that three of the films - Arthur And The Invisibles (the French film originally known as Arthur And The Minimoys), Happy Feet

Aria Films has been appointed as the UK intermediary of Rome-based studio, Cinecitta.Carlo Dusi's London-based Aria will help its Italian partner try to expand its international production work, with particular emphasis on post-production facilities. "Cinecitta' can clearly compete on an international playing field in terms of their post-production facilities, pricing and expertise, but what many producers are still unaware of is the flexibility behind the studios in terms of overall prici

Yari Film Groupand Momentum Pictures' Spanish distribution arm Aurum have signed an exclusivethree-year output deal. The deal wasannounced by Yari Film Group CCO David Glasser and Xavier Marchand, managing directorof Momentum Europe.Aurum will acquirefull distribution rights throughout Spain for films produced and/or acquired byYari Film Group over the next three years.The two companiessta

The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) has launched a new short film competition,60 Seconds of Fame, in association with Orange and supported by BBC Nations and Regions and the UK's regional screen agencies.Anyone over 16 is open tosubmit a 60-sec

Four film projects comingfrom three southeastern European countries received the grants handed out todayby the Balkan Fund, a script development initiative created in November 2002 bythe Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF).Two of the four awardedprojects come from Romania, where cinema has become more vital in recent years.The two projects, receiving $12,824 (Euros 10,000) each, are: Prin

Michael Ballhaus will receive the 2007 American Society ofCinematographers (ASC) International Achievement Award for 'the artful andenduring contributions that he has made to advancing the global art offilmmaking.'Ballhaus will collect the honour at the 21st Annual ASCOutstanding Achievement Awards in Los Angeles on Feb 18, 2007.Ballhaus has been nominated three times for the Oscar for GangsOf New York in 2002, The FabulousBaker Boys in 1989, an

Dir: Chad Lowe. US. 2006.91mins.Chad Lowe makes an uneven directorial debut with Beautiful Ohio, failing to establish anassured tone, consistent acting or memorable visual style in this story about adysfunctional but talented family. All in all it feels very much like a missedopportunity, moreso because the source material's imaginativeliterariness and strong sense of place does occasionally creep through.Beautiful Ohio

Jan Hrebejk's Beauty In Trouble was the winner of this year's Krzysztof KieslowskiAward for best feature film at the Starz Denver Film Festival (SDFF) whichended on Saturday night with the US premiere of Werner Herzog's RescueDawn.For the first time this year, Screen International partneredwith SDFF to present the Kieslowski award, a juried award given to a featurefilm which reflects the artistic sensibilities of the late Polish director.Beauty In Trouble, t

The mayor of Saint-Denis has signed the construction permit for Luc Besson's Cinema City project, it was announced Friday. Didier Paillard, mayor of the Parisian suburb, gave the go-ahead for the long-gestating project which will see soundstages, workshops, offices and other amenities built on a 65,000 square metre site.In a press release, the town hall of Saint-Denis noted, "The signature of the construction permit is an important step in the advancement of this dossier. On this occasion, the t

Germany's Beta Cinema says it made 30 deals at this year's AFM, starting with further global success for its Stasi thriller, The Lives Of Others.Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's German Oscar entry sold to South Korea (Eureka), Singapore, Malaysia (Cathay), Portugal (Ecofilmes), Thailand (J-Bics) and Hong Kong (Edko). Talks with a Russian distributor are reaching their final phase.Beta's Dirk Schuerhoff and Andreas Rothbauer say the film looks ready to follow Oliver Hirschbiegel's

Canada's film and televisionperformers edged closer to a strike position as their representative ACTRAannounced it will begin mailing strike ballots to members.The move follows the latestround of negotiations between the performers union and the production communityrepresented by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA)and the Association de Producteurs de Film et de Television du Quebec (APFTQ).The two parties have agreed to conduct a final round of negotiations

South Korea's The King And The Clown, directed by Lee Joon-ik, has taken topprizes at the Cape Town World Cinema Festival. The period satire won BestFilm and Best Screenplay for writers Choi Seok-hwan and Kim Tae-woong.The best director prize wentto Mat Whitecross and Michael Winterbottom for The Road To Guantanamo; Best Actor wasjointly won by Bunny Chow's KagisoLediga and Isaka Sa

Russia's Central Partnership has announced a series of deals done at therecent AFM. Nikolai Lebedev's fantasy Wolfhound was pre-sold to Focus Filmesin Brazil, Indo-Overseas in India, Mediapro in Romania in addition to nearingdeals for the US, Western Europe and Japan. Central Partnership said it wouldscreen the full film at Berlin'sEuropean Film Marke

Debbie Chalet has announcedthat she will step down as CEO of Carlton Screen Advertising at the end of theyear.Chalet had been part of theacquisition team at Carlton TV when it became Carlton Screen Advertising in1996 and she was named sales director. She has served as CEO since 2000 and hadalso directed Screenvision, the joint-venture business in Europe and the US. "After 1

Cinema Libre Studio is partnering up with individuals, non-profitfoundations and non-governmental organisations to make two to five featureseach year dedicated to humanitarian, environmental or social issues.

Wrapping up post-AFM, Korea's CJ Entertainment has announced a slew of deals for Park Chan-wook's I'm a Cyborg But It's OK, martial arts fantasy The Restless, and gangster film A Dirty Carnival to Asia and Europe.Pre-sales for Park's romantic comedy, starring Im Soo-jung and pan-Asian pop star Rain, went to to Golden Scene for Hong Kong, M Pictures for Thailand, Encore Films for Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, PT Parkit for India, Ama Films for Greece, and DHD

Production startsin London this week on David Cronenberg's thriller Eastern Promises, starring ViggoMortensen and Naomi Watts.The KudosPictures and Serendipity Point Films co-production will be distributed in the US and internationally by Focus Features,while Alliance Atlantis will distribute in Canada

Eddie Cunningham has been appointed president of UniversalPictures International Entertainment, effective Jan 1, 2007.Cunningham will continue to be based in London and willreport to Universal Pictures' Burbank-based vice chairman Rick Finkelstein andco-chairman David Linde. He succeeds Peter Smith, who was recently appointedpresident of NBC Universal International.UPIE has directly-owned operations in 23 territories andlicenses product to over 30 additional countries.Cun

P Jennifer Dana (pictured) has joined Los Angeles and NewYork-based Andrew Lauren Productions as president of production and willimmediately get working on a horror story about the legend of infamous gunheiress Sarah Winchester.

Dir: Tony Scott. US. 2006.128mins.The latest thriller from producer Jerry Bruckheimerand director Tony Scott, Deja Vu bites off more than it can stylishlyblow up in trying to turn a terrorist attack into back-story fodder for atime-travel tale. But its greatest weakness is making the usually charismatic Denzel Washington seem a confused and passive presence in aplot he has trouble controlling.Ope

Famed director Robert Altmanhas died age 81.His New York-based Sandcastle5 Productions told the Associated Press that Altman died Monday night but didn'tdisclose the cause of death.A multiple best directorOscar nominee, Altman received an honorary Academy Award earlier in 2006 forhis body of work, which includes MASH, Nashville, The Player,

Dogwoof Pictures has taken UK rights to Detlev Buck's Tough Enough (Knallhart). The German feature is abouta 15-year-old boy (David Kross) who moves from the posh suburbs into a rough Berlin neighborhood, where he finds himself in over hishead with the criminal underworld. The deal was struck at AFMwith sales company The Match Factory, which pr

The Dubai InternationalFilm Festival (DIFF) has selected Emilio Estevez's Bobby for its opening night gala on Dec 10. The film followsthe lives of 22 people on the night of Robert Kennedy's 1968 assassination. Theensemble cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, Christian Slater,Lawrence Fishburne, Joshua Jackson and Lindsay Lohan.The festival willoffer six gala screenings: the world premiere of Khaled Youssef's Justified Cheating and the

The development of digital cinema in Europe took a significant step forward with the conference of the influential Europa Cinemas network of independent theatres reaching a consensus on a single global standard."We can now say that there's total agreement that digital cinema and digital distribution worldwide should only have one standard," said Anders Geersten, Director of Distribution at the Danish Film Institute, who chaired the discussion on the subject at the Europa Cinemas annual confer

Warner Bros' animated feature Happy Feet pipped Sony's James Bond epic CasinoRoyale to the post as the two top films ofthe weekend unusually grossed more than $40m each.Happy Feet, a storyabout a tap-dancing penguin featuring the vocal talents of Hugh Jackman NicoleKidman and Robin Williams, opened on an estimated $42.3m from 3,804 screens. Approximately $2.4m of that amount came from IMAX screens,which can take the credit for elevating the film's tally beyo

Principal shooting started this week in Cape Town on Threes Anna's The Bird Can't Fly - the first Dutch-South African co-production.The $2.3m (Euros 2m) flm is a co-production between Dutch 24FPS Features, (lead producer Anton Scholten), South African IMG-films and Irish Borderline Productions. Investors have come from the Netherlands, including the Dutch Film Fund, and South Africa, including the IDC Bank.American actress Barbara Hershey stars as a middle-aged woman who discover

The UK-based young film-makers project First Light Movies has appointedtwo new directors.Carolyn Dailey, head of TimeWarner's European Policy Office and MarcBoothe, producer of UK hit Bullet Boy will help guide an initiative that hashelped 10,000 young filmmakers on 750 short films since 2001.First Light distributes £1.1m of Lottery money, through UK FilmCouncil funding, every year to fund young people's filmmaking projects.

Spain's Filmax Entertainment has sold North Americandistribution rights on English-language thriller The Kovak Box to First Look Studios.Timothy Hutton stars as a novelist in Spain for a conferencewho finds himself drawn into a string of suicides eerily similar to the plot ofone of his books. The thriller recently picked up the audience award atSweden's Lund International Fantastic Film Festival.Daniel Monzon (The Warrior's Heart, The Biggest RobberyNever Told) dir

The Berlin-based World Cinema Fund (WCF) has awarded a total of $288,000 (Euros 225,000) to five film projects from Peru, Chile and Jordan, chosen from 82 projects submitted from 27 countries.In the fifth round of funding, the WCF jury selected four feature films and one documentary (Recycle) for support:They are: * Dioses directed by Josue Mendez (Peru) and produced by Chullachaki Producciones, Lima. The film's German co-producers are Milcolores Media, Munich/Cachoeira Fi

Warren Kornblum, former chief marketing officer at Toys'R' Us, has acquired film rights to Clark Howard's novelette TheDakar Run for his Shadow EntertainmentGroup.Miranda Kwok, who won Slamdance's Sparky Award for bestscreenplay for Song Of Silence in 2004,wrote the screenplay and the feature is currently in development.Kornblum is serving as producer and cast announcements areexpected to follow shortly.Howard is an Edgar Allan Poe award-

Buoyed by the ongoing success of Borat and The Devil Wears Prada, Fox Filmed Entertainment (FFE) and DuneEntertainment have extended their movie co-financing deal.Dune is investing another $325m in 16 additional Fox filmsto be announced in due course. Fox retains worldwide distribution rights on alltitles. Dune originally invested $325m in 28 films last January.'Dune's renewed commitment is a credit to the ongoingstrength and consistency of Fox'

Three internationalco-productions have been awarded nearly $1.28m (Euros 1m) by the German FederalFilm Board (FFA) and France's CNC at thelatest sitting of the German-French Funding Committee.The largest amount - $576,787(Euros 450,000) - was given to Peter Sehr and Marie Noelle'sGerman-French-Spanish co-production DieFrauen Des An

Kate Winslet and Edward Norton will receive 2006 Gotham Tributes at the upcoming 16th Annual Gotham Awards in New York on Nov 29.The Gotham Awards will also honour multiple filmmakers with its first annual World Cinema Tribute. This year, the tribute will be presented to the Mexican trio of Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.Winslet stars in new Line's Little Children and Sony's All The King's Men. She has earned four Oscar nomi

New London-based sales companyiDream Independent Pictures has wrapped up its first deals after the recentAmerican Film Market. The company had a lineup of fourprojects at the AFM: Kaushikagupta Ray's five-part Dalai Lama documentaryseries On Life AndEnlightenment, Antara Bharadwaj's thriller Telling Lies, ManishGupta's drama Karma Confessions And Holiand Pankaj A

The Irish Film Board is setto receive funding of $21.3m (Euros 19.659m) in 2007, it was revealed in nextyear's pre-budget spending estimates, published today by Ireland's Finance Minister, Brian Cowen. This represents a15% increase on the Board's allocation this year.The Minister for Arts, Sport& Tourism, John O'Donoghue, said, 'This increase will enable the IrishFilm Board to continue with its essentia

Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki has withdrawn from the race for an Academy Award nomination in the Best Foreign-Language Film category. He has told the Finnish Oscar Committee that he does not want Lights In The Dusk - the final film in his losers' trilogy - to be Finland's official submission. With deadline for submission passed, it is too late to come up with a new candidate.'Kaurismaki was apparently never contacted

The hit comedy Kenny tonight took home four Inside Film Awards, includingbest film and best script, while Ten Canoes and Suburban Mayhem took home three each. Ten Canoes, the first Australian feature to be made entirely inthe indigenous language, earned Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr best director,and Crusoe Kurddal best actor, while Suburban Mayhem's key award was for young Sydney-based New ZealanderEmily Barclay. Most of the IF Awards arevote

Major Korean production house Sidus FNH has created a $31.8m media fund with technology company Vanex, giving rise to speculation that the powerhouse film-maker has taken the first step towards self-distribution and international sales.Sidus FNH announced that it invested $6.3m in the fund "in order to secure stable investment funds and expand investment profits for Sidus FNH films."Sidus FNH's recent hits, like gambling caper Tazza: The High Rollers and Zo In-sung starrer A Dirty C

BAFTA and film body Screen WM are bringing major Bollywood talent to the UK second city of Birmingham this week. (November 17-19)The Mela '06 event at the National Exhibition Centre will feature film screenings and live interviews with Indian superstar husband and wife Ajay Devgan and Kajol and Saif Ali Khan.Devgan is best known for playing the anti-hero in films such as The Legend Of Bhagat Singh and this year as Iago in Othello.Kajol is one of India's most popular actre

The 20th Leeds InternationalFilm Festival (Nov 2-12) has awarded its jury prize, the Golden Owl, to Belgiandirector Guillaume Malandrin's I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Comes. A special mention went to Mohamed Al Daradji's Ahlaam. In the Louis Le Prince shortfilm competition, Oliver Klein's Bhai Bhai took top honours with special mentions for Lluis Quilez's Avatar and Jean-Gabriel Periot's Even If She Had Been ACriminal (Et-elle ete cr

Dir: Kurt Matilla, Matt Checkowski. US. 2006. 90mins.A cute but superficial scam caper, Lies & Alibis is easy on the eye butleaves no real lasting impression. Despite its many flaws, first-time directorsKurt Matilla and Matt Checkowski do bring a zippy flair to the material, helpedby a good-humoured score and the sunny locale.The film opens in LA from Nov17, but its best prospects rest on DVD, where its name cast should se

The Golden Globes show not only brings together the world of film and TV but it also includes categories in comedy and musical categories, one of the major differentiating features of the Globes from other awards bodies.

The Golden Globes show not only brings together the world of film and TV but it also includes categories in comedy and musical categories, one of the major differentiating features of the Globes from other awards bodies.

Lightning Entertainment has secured international sales rights for the local hit comedy Kenny, which has earned A$7 million and is still in Australian cinemas after 13 weeks.The documentary-style film, distributed by Madman, is about an ordinary man who works for a company that provides toilets for events. It has hit such a chord with Australians that it is the biggest homegrown earner at cinemas so far this year.Rights to the film were available because it was made outside Australi

The 19th Seagate Foyle FilmFestival wrapped yesterday in Northern Ireland after 10 days of screenings and other activities withthe presentation of its Stella Artois Film Awards. Paul Andrew Williams' London To Brightoncontinued its winning streak by capturing the best feature film prize. Bestdocumentary was The Real Dirt On Farmer John by Taggart Siegel.Other winners were bestIrish

The fifth Discovering LatinAmerica Film Festival will run in London from Nov 23 to Dec 3. The programme includes 40features, documentaries and shorts from 10 countries across Latin America. Features include Forbidden to Forbid (Proibido Proibir) by Brazil's Jorge Duran, Habana Blues by Cuba's Benito Zambranoand Sacred Family (La Sagrada Familia) bySebastian Campos.Document

Magnolia Home Entertainment, Truly Indie and Netfilx's RedEnvelope Entertainment are teaming up to release James Scurlock's documentary MaxedOut, which won the Special Jury Prize atSouth by Southwest this year.Maxed Out exploresthe workings of the US credit card industry and examines the credit culture,explaining among other things the true definition of "preferredcustomer".The film will get a Mar 9, 2007 release following anextensive grassroots tour that will be o

The sixth Marrakech Film Festival will kick off on Dec1 in the Moroccan town with a screening of Martin Scorsese's The Departed. The festival will close with Mon Meilleur Ami by Patrice Leconte. Roman Polanski will head upthe jury alongside Sandrine Bonnaire, Jamel Debbouze, Maria De Medeiros, PanNalin, Yousry Nasrallah, Ludivine Sagnier, David Wenham and Paz Vega.Fifteen films will compete in the main program (seelist below) while 19 films will screen out of competit

MGM has acquired worldwide rights, excluding selectterritories, to Douglas Mackinnon's TheFlying Scotsman.Jonny Lee Miller stars inthe true story of Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree, who battled mental illness andbroke world records after designing his own bicycle.The film world premiered asthe opening film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and recentlyscreened at the AFM. "The Flying Scotsman is

Following months of rumourand speculation, cult director Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western: Django is now before cameras. Details of theproduction were announced to the press on location in Yamagata prefecture yesterday.Though set during the Genpeiclan wars of the 12th century, the film is being billed as Japan's first true western. The title pays homage to thespaghetti wes

The Motion Picture Association and the Spanish producers' rights' management entity EGEDA have joined to create the Latin American Regional Alliance to fight piracy in the region.The Alliance aims to work on different fronts across Latin America to ensure the protection of rights and to fight against piracy and fraud.EGEDA agrees to work hand-in-hand with rights' management societies in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and eventually Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. A pressing issue

Tom Tykwer's period thriller Perfume: Story Of A Murderer starring Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman and AlanRickman will open the 7th Santa Fe Film Festival on Dec 6.Miss Potter starringRenee Zellweger is the centerpiece gala screening on Dec 8 and the event closeson Dec 10 with Roger Michell's Venusstarring Peter O'Toole.The prestigious roster of galas includes The Painted Veil and Volver, and there are special presentations of Guillermo Del Toro's

Warren Kornblum, former chief marketing officer at Toys'R' Us, has acquired film rights to Clark Howard's novelette TheDakar Run for his Shadow EntertainmentGroup.Miranda Kwok, who won Slamdance's Sparky Award for bestscreenplay for Song Of Silence in 2004,wrote the screenplay and the feature is currently in development.Kornblum is serving as producer and cast announcements areexpected to follow shortly.Howard is an Edgar Allan Poe award-

Sydney Pollack, Kate Winslet and Todd Field will be honouredat the 18th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) in January.Pollack will receive the Screen Actors Guild Foundation'sfirst Patron Of The Arts Award, while Winslet will collect the Desert PalmAchievement Award, and Field will receive the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.The presentations will take place at the festival's annualawards gala on Jan 6. As previously announced Adam Beach, who

Andrea Arnold's Red Road has added Best Film at the Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland awards to its previous honours, including the Cannes Jury Prize and five BIFA nominations. The win was universally predicted, as was the film's easy dominance of the evening's other film prizes - Best Actress for Kate Dickie, Best Actor for Tony Curran, and both Best Screenplay and Best Director for Andrea Arnold. This meant a clean sweep of the major prizes for a film that had faced lit

The Girl In The Park, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winningauthor David Auburn, and Pushing UpDaisies, a black comedy written and directed by Chaz Thorne, both went intoproduction this week and are the first two films to carry the name RGM, one ofAustralia's most prominent agencies.RGM director Robyn Gardinerand partner Devesh Chetty set up a branch in Singapore two years ago with

Rome FilmFest has announced the formation of Rome Cinema Foundation, intended tostrengthen the new Cinema Festa di Roma, which ran its first edition Oct 13-21in the Italian capitol.Goffredo Bettiniwill leave his role as president of Rome Music Foundation at the Auditorium

Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovsky's second feature Dau, which was pitched at last year's Connecting Cottbus market forum, is one of the new feature films to be backed by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg in its latest round of funding.Khrzhanovsky's new project, which is based on the life of the great Russian physicist and Nobel Prize winner Lev Landau and described by the producers as "a passionate film about a passionate man", received the largest amount - $450,000 (Euros 350,000) - fr

Veteran Argentinianfilmmaker Sergio Renan is finishing Three of Hearts (Tresde Corazones), his first feature in five years.The 73-year-old, award-winningdirector and actor is in the last week of shooting of the $840,000 productionstarring local stars Monica Ayos, Fabian Vena and Luis Luque.Based on renowned writerJuan Jose Saer's short story ElTaximetrista, the film is co-financed by San Luis Cine (70 percent) andDaniel Burman and Diego D

Spanish director AlbertSerra's Honor de Cavalleria tookbest film honors at the 24th annualTurin Film Festival which wrappedSaturday in the Northern Italian city.Cavalleria was awarded the Euro 20,500 ($26,000) Lancia Prizein the fest's international feature film section dedicated to the discovery ofnew filmmakers. The jury called Serra's film "a moving, elegant, courageousfilmic stand, a stunning cinema debut."The film is anultra-minimalist take on Cervantes' class

UK agencies Skillset and Film London have launched a bursary scheme providing up to 80% of the cost of short course training for film professional.The initiative covers training in business, technical and craft skills as well as related issues like health and safety.The bursaries are funded by Skillset's Film Skills Fund, whose supporters include the National Lottery, through the UK Film Council, and the film industry through the Skills Investment Fund.The scheme extends to animation, t

The world premiere of BrettMorgen's Chicago 10 will be the opening film at the 2007 Sundance FilmFestival.Morgen, who previouslyco-directed 2002 Sundance favourite TheKid Stays In The Picture, wrote and directed this"innovative" documentary combining storytelling, archival footage, interviewsand animation about the 1968 anti-war protests at the Democratic NationalConvention in Chicago and the ensuing Chicago Conpsiracy Tr

The Sundance Institute and Japanese broadcaster NHK haveannounced the 12 finalists for the 2007 Sundance/NHK International FilmmakersAwards.The annual award, now in its 11th year, honours emerging directorsfrom four global regions. One winner from each of Europe, Latin America, the USand Japan will be chosen by an international jury and presented with theirawards during the festival in January.Each winner will receive $10,000 and a guarantee from NHK topurchase the Japanese tele

It was always going to be a film that pleased the critics and Ten Canoes did just that, winning best film at the Film Critics Circle of Australia awards. Rolf de Heer's film, which brings to life the story an Aboriginal hunter tells his younger companion while on an expedition, took the award at a ceremony held on 28 October in Melbourne. But the most awards went to the drama Jindabyne, which won best director for Ray Lawrence, supporting actor for Deborra-Lee Furness

Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Go Master is to withdraw from Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Awards, the latest in a series of Chinese picture to pull out of the prestigious competition.The Go Master was nominated in four categories, including Best Actor for Chang Chen. The Golden Horse Executive Committee in Taipei is awaiting an official letter from Fortissimo Film Sales before the film can be officially withdrawn.Tian's producer confirmed that the film would not participate in the

Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Go Master is to withdraw from Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Awards, the latest in a series of Chinese picture to pull out of the prestigious competition.The Go Master was nominated in four categories, including Best Actor for Chang Chen. The Golden Horse Executive Committee in Taipei is awaiting an official letter from Fortissimo Film Sales before the film can be officially withdrawn.Tian's producer confirmed that the film would not participate in the

THINKFilm has acquired North American rights to TheTrials Of Darryl Hunt, which has just beennamed one of 15 documentaries on the Academy Awards shortlist. The distributorwill handle the film in association with HBO Documentary Films.THINKFilm says it has now handled ten documentaries infive years that have made the shortlist.Theatrical chief Mark Urman plans a limited release nextyear on Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg

Nextyear's Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) will be held in twoRomanian cities - Cluj Napoca and Sibiu - in recognition of the latter's statusas a European Capital of Culture in 2007 along with Luxembourg.Speakingexclusively with ScreenDaily during the Connecting Cottbus market forum,T

Spanish director AlbertSerra's Honor de Cavalleria took bestfilm honors at the 24th edition of the Turin Film Festival which wrappedSaturday in the Northern Italian town.Cavalleria was awarded the $26,000(Euros 20,500) Lancia Prize in the fest's international feature film sectiondedicated to the discovery of new filmmakers. The jury called Serra's film'a moving, elegant, courageous filmic stand, a stunning cinema debut."The film is an ultra-minimalistt

The Weinstein Company (TWC) and IFC Entertainment havejointly acquired all North American rights to Out Of The Blue, the true story of the New Zealand mass murdererDavid Gray.IFC will release the film through its First Takeday-and-date label and TWC will handle DVD roll-out through Genius Products.Out Of The Bluecentres on David Gray who, on Nov 13 1990, shot and killed more than a dozentownspeople in his quiet South Island hometown of Aramoana.

The UK Film Council hasannounced the latest recipients of awards from its P&A Fund, which supportsdistribution of niche films. The awards are: $169,968 (£90,000) to VervePictures for Andrea Arnold's Red Road$169,968 (£90,000) to OptimumReleasing for Joon-ho Bong's The Host$117,059 (£62,000)

The UK industry coalition All Industry Marketing(AIM) has appointed Grace Carley as managingdirector. Carley had beendirector of marketing for the Irish Film Board before running her own London and Los-Angeles based companies,including sales company Stranger Than Fiction, andworking for the Department of Culture, Media and Sp

The 13th edition of theItalian Film Festival UK, in association with Fiat and the Italian CulturalInstitues in Edinburgh and London, is running in six UK cities through Dec 4. Seven cinemas in Edinburgh,

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was founded in 1943 under the name The Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association by one William Mooring, a correspondent in Los Angeles for The Daily Mail in the UK.

You could argue that every year is a banner year for international cinema, but few would deny that 2006 has more than its fair share of crowd-pleasing non-English language movies. And the foreign-language Oscar category is, after all, more focused on films that play with audiences than films that please critics, which is why recent winners have included Tsotsi (2005) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). This year, Pedro Almodovar has delivered one of his most pl

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